Armature-core-insulating machine



July 16, 1929.

L. E. POOLE 1,721,037

ARMATURE CORE INSULATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 24, 1926gwuzntoo Ilid 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 x5 z m lmmm a/ July 16, 1929. 1.. E.Pool-E ARMATURE CORE INSULATING MACHINE Filed April 24, 1926 July 16,1929. PO 1,721,037

ARMATURE cons INSULATING MACHINE Filed April 24, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 wW 1 "III WWI July 16, 1929. E. POOLE 3 ARMATURE CORE INSULATING MAdHINEFiled April 24, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 34 X /J/ /9/a Jul 1611929. L, E,POOLE 1,721,037

ARMATURE CORE INSULATING MACHINE Filed April 24 19 26 5 Sheets-Sheet 5aumnugd Fatented July 16 192 9.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE.

LORA E. POOLE, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR, IBY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,'IO DELCO-REMY CORPORATION, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

ARMATURE-CORE-INSULATI N G MAGI-IIN E.

Application filed April 24,

This invention relates to the manufacture of armatures for dynamoelectric machines, and particularly to the insulation of the armaturecore slots and of the conductors lo.-

carted within these slots,

The present invention is embodied in a novel process of making strips ofarmature core slot insulation from a flat strip of insulating material,and in apparatus for Carrying out this process and for automaticallyinserting insulating strips within the slots of an armature. By thenovel process and apparatus to be described, the chief objects of thepresent invention areaccomplished, namely,

to improve the product and reduce the costof manufacture. The processand apparatus for making the core slot insulating members are describedand claimed in divisional case No. 250,283, filed January 28, 1928.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of embodiment of the present 2invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking in the direction of the arrow 2 ofFig. 1.

Figs. 3 to 10 inclusive are sectional views taken respectively onsimilarly marked section planes in Fig. 2.

Fig. 11 is an end elevation of the machine looking in thedirection ofarrow 11 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view on the line 12.-1 2. of Fig.11.

Fi g. 13 is a'sectional view on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12.

' Fig. 14 is a sectional view on, the line 1414 of Fig. 13, this Viewbeing developed into a single plane instead of two planes as indicatedin Fig. 13. Fig. 1 1 also shows a developed sectional view of anarmature core and its rotatable support.

Fig. 14* is a fragmentary end view of the armature as seen in thedirection of the arrow 14 in Fig. 14. I

Fig. 15 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a feed roll operatingmechanism. this view being taken on the line l5-15 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 16 is a sectional view on the line l6-1 6 of 15.

F igs. 17 and 18 are fragmentary sectional 1926. Serial No. 104,404.

views on the lines l717 and 18?. 8 respectively, of Fig. 16.

Referring to Figs. 3 to 10 inclusive the method of folding the paper toform slotinsulation pieces will first be described. The fiat strip ofpaper designated by numeral 20 inFig. 3 is unwound from a supply roll,not shown, and is passed over a trough 21 which pivotally supports aweight member 22 tending to maintain the paper 20 flat within thetrough, The paper is drawn from left to right as viewed in Fig. 2,and'when it arrives approximately at the plane 44; of F ig. 2 it ispassed between members 23, 24;, 25 and 26 where its crosssectional shape20 becomes one which is similar to aslanting N. When the paper arrivesat the section plane .575 of Fig. '2 it will pass between members 23,2'77, 28 and 29 which causes the paper to be folded so that its crosssectional shape 20 resembles that of a slanting N having lessinclination to the vertical than in Fig. 1, It will be noted that thepart 23 in Fig. 5 is the same member as part 23 in F ig. 41 but itscross sectional contour gradually changes from that shown in Fig. 4 tothat shown in Fig. 5 in order that the paper will be given a differentshape as it progresses from the left toward the right. When the paperstrip arrives at the plane 6-6 in Fig. 2 it passes between towing andfeeding rolls 30 and 31 which give it the cross.- sectional shape 20which might be characterized by likening it to an inverted U joined toan upright U or to a recumbent 8 After the paper leaves the rolls 30 and31 it passes into a flaring mouth 32 of a tunnel 33 which is oblong incross-sectional shape with rounded ends as shown, in Fig. 7. This tunnel33 is provided bygrooving two blocks 34 and 35 and placing them togetheras shown. The movement of the strip through the tunnel causes its shapeto change from its cross-sectional shape 20 to the cross-sectional shape20 the latter shape resembling a relatively narrow upright S or areversed 3 according to the direction in which the view is taken. Afterleaving the tunnel 33 the strip passes through a guide passage 36provided in a rotatable work holder which receives and supports anarmature core 37 carried by a shaft 38 and provided with a plurality ofslots 39. As the strips 20 are inserted into the slots 39, they aremaintained in contact with the bottoms of slots, for a purpose to bechine.

described later, by band 37 a which is placed temporarily around thearmature core 37. The band 37 is provided on its interior withlongitudinally extending ribs 37 which are spaced so that each will bereceived by a core slot 39.

Referring to Fig. 12, the work holder 40 is a cup-shaped member having ahorizontally disposed shank 41 rotatably supported by a bearing 42attached to a bracket 43 which is mounted upon the base plate 44 of themais prevented by the engagement with the bearing 42 of a shoulder 45provided by the shank 41 and by a nut 46 engaging the threaded end 47 ofthe shank. The shank 41 is tubular and receives a rod 48 having acentral recess 49 for receiving the armature shaft 88; The recess 49 issurrounded by three resilient spring arms 50 integral with the rod 48.These arms cooperate with an internal conical surface 51 provided by theshank 41. Thus the shank 41 and the resilient members 50 constitute acollet chuck for gripping the shaft 38 when the rod 48 is pulled towardthe left so that the ends of the chucking aws 50 will be forced againstthe conical surface 51 and will grip the shaft 38. The rod 48 isthreadedly connected with a flanged nut 52. A. spring 53 located betweenthe nut 52 and the nut 46 urges the rod 48 toward the left so that theshaft 38 will be gripped by the members 50. In order to release thechuck so that the core and shaft may be removed from the machine, theoperator will press a pedal not shown but connected with a lever 54causing it to move in a clockwise direction. Levers 54 and 56 areattached to a shaft 55 supported by the base 44. Lever 56 is providedwith a hole 57 which receives a pin 58 connected with a plate 59 whichis adapted to bear against the nut 52. Obviously. downward movement ofthe lever 54 will be transmitted through the shaft 55 and the lever 56causing it to move toward the right in order to compress the spring 53and relieve the chucking jaws 50 from wedging engagement with the shank41. The interior of the cup 40 is provided with a rib 60 which will bereceived by one of the core slots in order to locate the core properlyrelative to the work holder.

The trough 21 is supported by a bracket which also supports the parts 23to 29 inclusive shown in section in Figs. 4 and 5. The guides 34 and 35are supported by a bracket 66 and the bracket 43.

The feeding and folding rolls 30 and 31 are drivingly connected withshafts 70 and 71 respectively and are maintained in driving engagementtherewith by nuts 72 and 73 respectively engaging threaded ends of theshafts. The shaft 70 is journaled in bearing blocks 74 which aresupported for vertical sliding movement by a bracket 75 supportedEndwise movement of the shank 41' eanne? by the base plate 44. Eachbearing block 74 is yieldingly urged downwardly by spring 76 which bearsat its upper end against a washer 77 hearing against a nut 78 threadedlyconnected with a rod 79 having its lower end connected with a plate 80which is attached by screws 81 to the bracket 75. The lower end of thespring 76 bears against a disc 82 having studs 83 connected therewith,each stud 83 passing through a hole 84 in the plate 80 and bears at itslower end against the block 74. The shaft 71 is supported by bearings 85carried by the bracket 75 and is drivingly connected with the shaft 7 Oby gears 86 and 87 connected respectively with shafts 71 and 70. Theshaft 71 is supported also by bracket 88 mounted on the base plate 44.

The mechanism for imparting intermittent rotary motion to the shaft 71in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 15, comprises a ratchet 90attached to the shaft 71 and engageable with a plurality of pawls 91each mounted on a stud 92 supported by a disc 93 which is rotatablysupported by the shaft 71 but is not drivingly connected therewith. llach pawl is urged toward the ratchet by a leaf spring 94 fixed at 95 tothe periphery of the disc. The disc 93 is oscillated by a link 96connected at one end with the disc and at the other end with a lever 97rotatably supported by a stub shaft 98 carried by bracket 99 which issupported by the base 44. The lever 97 carries a cam following rollerwhich is received by a slot 101 of a drum cam 102 which is mounted on ashaft 103. Obviously, for each rotation of the shaft 103 there will beone complete oscillation of the lever 97 and link 96. This movement willproduce rotation of the feed rollers 30 and 31 then a backing up of thepawls by movement in a counterclockwise direction preparatory to thenext feeding operation. The ratchet 90 is prevented from backing up by afriction device including a drum 104 attached to the shaft 71 andengaged by a split clamping band 105 which is prevented from turning bythe engagement of one of its lugs 107 with a post 106 attached to thebase 44. The band 105 is urged into frictional engagement with the drum104 by a spring 108 bearing against a lug 109 of the clamp and the headof a screw 110 which passes through plain holes in the lugs 107 and 109and threadedly engages the post 106. Turning the screw 110 will vary thefriction pressure exerted by the clamp 105.

The shaft 103 is supported by the bracket 43, a bracket 114 and abracket 115. The shaft 103 is conne'etible wit-h a shaft 116 by a clutchmember 117 which is drivingly connected with the shaft 103 and isendwise movableinto engagement with a clutch memher 118 fixed to theshaft 116. The shaft 116 is supported by brackets 119 and 120 and-isattached to a gear 121 meshing with a gear 122 which is supported by ashaft 123 operated by an electric motor 124 carried by the base plate44. The clutch members 117 and 118 are engaged by means including alever 125 which pivotally connected with bracket 1.26 attached to thebase plate 44. The lever is connected by a link 127 with a lever 128carrying a roller or stud 129 which is received. by a groove 130provided by the clutch member 11.7. The lever 128 is pivoted upona post131 attached to the base 44. A spring 132 connecting the lever 28 withthe base plate 44 tends to disengage the clutch member 117 from theclutch member 118. To cause rotation of the shaft 103, the operator, whostands facing the end of the machine shown in Fig. 11, and thereforefacing in the direction of the arrow 11 of Fig. 1, will push the lever125 away from him in order to cause the link 127 to move toward theright in Fig. 1 and the lever 128 to move counterclockwise to engage theclutch 117 with the clutch 118. The motor 124 will thenoperate the shaft103. The operator will maintain the lever 128 in this posit-ion manuallyuntil a cam 135, which is rotatably supported by a stub shaft 136 and isdriven by the shaft 103 through gearing 137 and 138, has been rotatedsufficiently to cause. a notched portion 139 to move away from a roller140 attached to the lever 1.28. Then the operator may release the lever125 so that the spring 132 will draw the roller 140 into engagement withthe outer periphery 141 of the cam 135. The shaft 103 will continue torotate until the cam 135 has made substantially a complete revolution tobring the notch 139 opposite the roller 140. Then the spring 132 will bereleased to move the lever 128 clockwise in order to disconnect theclutch member 117 from the member 118.

Due to the rotation of the rollers to feed the paper endwise as well asto perform one of the steps of forming it, a portion of the strip ofpaper is fed through one of the guide passages 36 in work holder 40 intoan armature core slot 39 in alignment therewith; this portion is severedfrom the remainder of the strip by means including a shear block whichcooperates with a slidable knife 151 which is guided by a bracket 152attached to the bracket 43. The knife 151 is provided with a slot 153for receiving a stud 154 carried by lever 155 which is supported by apivot stud 156 carried by the bracket 43. The lever carries a roller 157which is yieldingly urged by a spring 158 against a cam 159 which isattached. to the shaft 103. Spring 48 is connected with a screw 160attached at one end to the lever 155 and to the other end with a bracket161 attached to the bracket 43. Soon after the end of the paper feedingoperation, the knife 151 will shear the paper at the adjacent edge ofthe shear block 150.

A fter the shearing operation, the operation of rotating the work holder40 in a counterclockwise direetion, as viewed in Fig. 11, is performedin order to bring the next core slot 39 opposite the tunnel 33. It willbe under stood that the shear block 150 is provided with a grooveforming an extension of the grove in the block 33 so that the blocks .34and 150 may cooperate with the block .33 to pro.-

vide a'tnnnel forming an extension of the v ratchet teeth 177 providedby the periphery of the work holder 40. A leaf spring 178 attached tothe lever 173 bears against the pawl 176 in order to yieldingly maintainengagement with the ratchet 17 7. The shaft 103 is rotated in aclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 11, so that, after the knife bar151 has sheared the paper and begins movement toward the right in Fig.11, the lever 173 will start substantially at the same time to move in acountercloclnvise direction in order that the work holder 40 will berotated through an angular distance substantially equal to the spacingof the guide slots 36. After the indexing of the work holder has beenperformed the next feeding operation will take place during which theratchet lever 173 willbe moved clockwise an angular distance slightlygreater than the spacing of the ratchet teeth 177. Rotation of theratchet in a clockwise direction is prevented by a band 179 whichfrictionally engages a cylindrical surface 180 provided by the workholder 40. The band is in the form of a split ring and may be adjustablyclamped about the the work holder 40 by turning a Screw 181 which passesthrough a plain hole in the band lug 182 and threadedly engages the bandlug 1.83. The band lug 182 is apertured to receive a stud 184 attachedto the bracket 43 and cooperat ing with a nut 185 to prevent endwisemove ment of the band 179.

It is therefore apparent that each cycle of operation of the machineincludes feeding a folded strip of paper into an armature core slot, thesevering of that portion of the paper within the armature core from theremaining portion, and the turning of the armature core relative to thepaper feeding means in order that the next .core slot to be insulatedwill be brought into alignment with the passage 33 through which theinsulation strip is guided into the armature core. During the feedingoperation, a. portion of the strip of paper is being folded preparatoryto being fed into the armature core duringa succeeding feeding of theoperation. The machine will operate continuously until all of thearmature core slots have been provided with insulation pieces. Then themachine will stop antomatically. This is accomplished through the clutchcontrol device described. If, for example, the armature core has 23slots, the

. speed ratio of the gearing 137 and 138 is. as 23 to 1. That is, theshaft 103 will make 23 revolutions in order to rotate the cam 135 onceso that its notch 139 will be brought again opposite to the roller 140,thus permitting the clutch member 117 to be disengaged from the clutchmember 118 by the operation of the spring 132.

Referring to Figs. 13 and 14, it will be apparent that it is notpractical to locate the cutting edge of the knife bar 151 in the sameplane as the left hand end of the armature core 37. Therefore a portionof the strip 20 measured by the distance between planes 0a:, y y in Fig.14 will project beyond the left hand end of the core 37. It is desirableto shove substantially all of the insulation pieces 20 through the coreslots in order that the ends of the strips may be received by closedslots 190 located in alignment with the slots 39 of the armature coreand provided in a nonconducting disc 191 located adjacent that end ofthe armature core which is to be remote from the commutator. Thefunction of the disc 191 is to assist in maintaining the armatureconductors within the core slots. The insulating disc 191 which isplaced against the end of the core which is to be adjacentthe-connnutator may have open slots, since the solderedconnectionsbetween the armature conductors and commutator risers will suffice toretain the conductors at the commutator end of the core. After eachinsulating strip 20 has been pushed through the core so that its righthand end will be received by a closed slot 190 of the non-conductingdisc 191 that end will be prevented from coming out of the armaturecore. It will now be apparent that the ring 37 will facilitate movementof the insulation pieces through the closed slots of the endnon-conducting disc 191, since the ribs 37 provided by the ring 37maintain the strips 20 against the bottoms of the core slots 39. Afterthe strips 20 have been moved past the shear block 150 they are shovedfurther toward the right in Fig. 14 by means including a bar 192 whichis slidably supported by guide block 193 for endwise movement parallelto the direction of movement of the strip 20. Endwise movement of thebar 192 toward the strips 20 in order to push them further into thearmature core as shown in Fig. 14 is produced by a plate cam 194 havinga beveled surface 195 which cooperates with a beveled surface 196 whichdefines a notch 197 with which the bar 192 is provided for receiving thecam 194. The cam 194 is attached by screw 198 to the lever 173.Therefore during clockwise rotation of the lever 173 the slide 192 ismoved toward the right in Fig. 14 in order to move a strip 20 furtherinto the armature core 37. During counterclockwise movement of the lever173 the slide 192 is moved toward the left by spring 199 hearing at oneend against the guide block 193 and at the other end against a shoulder200 provided by a rod 201 which is attached. to the bar 192. The guideblock 193 is attached by screws 202 to the bracket 43.

Obviously, it would be necessary where a 23 slot core is loaded tooperate the machine 27 cycles before stopping in order that all of thestrips 20 would have the same location relative to the core 37 as thestrips 20 inFig. 14. This has not been found necessary as it is arelatively simple matter to push in the strips 20 after the core 37 hasbeen removed from the work holder 40. If the machine were caused tooperate 27 cycles for the purpose specified it would of course benecessary to discontinue the operation of the paper feeding mechanismafter 23 cycles.

In order to facilitate threading the end of the paper strip after itleaves the feeding and folding wheels 30 and 31 into the tunnel 33between the blocks 33 and 34 as shown in Fig. 1, the guide block 33 ismounted to rotate about a vertical pivot stud 210 which is supported bythe bracket- 43. The guide block 33 is maintained in the position shownby a U-shaped clip 211 having its branches engaging its verticaloutsides of the guide blocks 33 and 34.

lVhile the form of embodiment of the present invention as hereindisclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood thatother forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claimswhich follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, meansfor supporting a slotted armature core, means for folding a flat stripof non-conducting material into the form required for slot insulationand for intermittently feeding the folded strip into a core slot, andmechanism for automatically producing intermittent movement of one meansrelative to the other in order that the core slots will successivelyreceive a folded strip.

2. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, meansfor rotatably supporting a slotted armature core, means for folding aflat strip of non-conducting material into the form required for slotinsulation and for intermittently feeding the folded strip into a coreslot, and mechanism for automatically producing intermittent rotation ofthe core support relative to the folding and feeding means in order thatthe core slots will successively receive a folded strip.

3. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, meansfor rotatably supporting a slotted armature core, means for folding aflat strip of non-conducting material into the form required for slotinsulation and for feeding a portion of the folded material into acoreslot, mechanism for producing intermittent operation of the foldingand feeding means, means for automatically severing the portion of thefolded material Within a core slot from the remainder of the strip, andmechanism for automatically rotating the core relative to the feedingmeans for the purpose specified.

4. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, meansfor supporting a slotted armature core, means for intermittently feedinga folded strip of insulating material longitudinally With respect to thecore into the core slots and mechanism for producing intermittentrelative movement between said means in order that the core slots Willsuccessively receive said fold-ed strip.

5. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, meansfor supporting a slotted armature core, means for intermittently feedinga strip of insulating material longitudinally with respect to the coreinto the core slots and mechanism for intermittently rotating the corepast the feeding means in order that the core slots will successivelyreceive said strip.

6. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, meansfor supporting a slotted armature core, means for feeding a strip ofinsulating material longitudinally with respect to the core into thecore slots, means for severing the material in the slot from the stripsupply, and mechanism for intermittently rotating the core past thefeeding means in order that the core slots will successively receivesaid strip.

7. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, meansfor supporting a slotted armature core, means for feeding a strip ofinsulating material end Wise into the core slots, co-operating shearingmembers for severing the material in the slotfrom the strip supply,means for pushing the severed portion of the material completely intothe slot, and mechanism for intermittently rotating the core past thefeeding means in order that the core slots will suecessively receivesaid strip.

8. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, arotatable collet-chuck for receiving and gripping a shaft upon Which anarmature core is mounted, a plate rotatable'with the chuck and havingapertures corresponding to the core slots, means provided by the plateand co-operating with a slot opening of the core to locate the core sothat its slots are in alignment with the apertures in the plate, meansfor feeding insulation pieces through the plate apertures and into thecore slots, and means for intermittently rotating the chuck.

9. Armature core insulating apparatus comprising, in combination, a cupshaped member adapted to receive a portion of an armature core andhaving a locating member adapted to enter a core slot to locate the coredefinitely relatively to the cup-member, said cup member having in itsend Wall apertures corresponding to the slots of the core, means forclamping the core to the cup-member, means for feeding insulation piecesthrough the cup-member and into the core slots, and means forintermittently rotating the cupmember.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature.

LORA E. POOLE.

